Episode 1 of House of the Dragon starts 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and focuses on the events following King Viserys Targaryen’s ascent to the throne.
House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: The Heirs of the Dragon
As the first century of the Targaryen dynasty was coming to a close, the Old King Jaehaerys was failing. Even though the Targaryen dynasty had ten adult dragons to wield power through, King Jaehaerys’ succession stood in doubt as both his sons were claimed by death.
In the year 101, the Old King called a Great Council to choose an heir. Of the many succession claims that were heard, two were really considered.
The two claims were from Rhaenys Targaryen, the eldest descendant of the King, and Viserys Targaryen, the eldest male descendant of the King.
The lords ended up choosing a male descendant to inherit the Iron Throne. Jaehaerys prevented war by calling a council instead to choose his successor.
The current events take place in the 9th year of King Viserys 1 Targaryen’s Reign; 172 years before the birth of the Mad King Aerys’ daughter Princess Daenerys Targaryen.
Princess Rhaenyra, the daughter of King Viserys, returns from a ride on the dragon Syrax as her dear friend Alicent Hightower waits for her. She heads to meet her pregnant mother, Queen Aemma. Unlike her mother, Rhaenyra would rather fight on the ground than bear royal babies.
On the other hand, Corlys Velaryon, known as the Sea Snake for his skilled seafaring abilities, informs the King that the growing alliance among the free cities has resulted in a Triarchy led by Carghas Drahar, also known by the name of Crabfeeder for his torturing abilities.
Just as Corlys finishes, Rhaenyra joins the King’s Council. The discussion pivots to the Heir’s Tournament, which the king intends to organize to welcome his male heir. Concerns are also shared by the Council members about the King’s brother Daemon Targaryen, who’s been given of the re-equipped City Watch.
When Rhaenyra looks for her uncle, she finds him sitting on the Iron Throne. Daemon Targaryen wishes to take possession of the throne for real one day.
Unlike her uncle, Princess Rhaenyra doesn’t worry about whether Queen Aemma will bear a son or a daughter. She remains least worried as to who sits on the throne as far as she gets to eat cake and ride dragons. But her friend, Alicent worries about her friend’s position once the male heir arrives.
The King has his concerns too. Apart from suffering from an infection on his back, he badly hopes to have a son after Queen Aemma has had multiple issues the last four times she tried to conceive in the span of two years.
In the night, Daemon carries out a raid in the King’s Landing, brutally butchering the “criminals” in the city and taking the power into his hands.
At the Council, Otto Hightower, the King’s hand, reports about Daemon’s brutality from the previous night to the King. Otto and Daemon exchange some rough words, and it’s revealed that Otto had lost his wife recently.
Even though the King rebukes his brother’s actions, Daemon finds some support in the embrace of his mistress, Mysaria.
The Heir’s Tournament begins as the king and his subjects stand witness to some brave fighting by Ser Criston Cole. When Daemon gets a chance to choose an opponent, he chooses Otto Hightower’s eldest son. To Otto’s displeasure, Alicent even favors Daemon after he de-horses her brother.
While some gory action follows on the field, King Viserys’ attention is sought by Queen Aemma who has gone into labor.
The King is given the choice of saving one between the child and the mother. While Ser Criston and Daemon battle it out on the ground, King Viserys chooses to save the child at the cost of the mother.
Ser Criston beats Daemon in the duel, and King Viserys is rewarded with an heir. However, Queen Aemma’s death goes in vain as the child passes away quickly after.
As the Council assembles again to discuss the King’s heir, Corlys suggests Daemon’s name while the rest of the Council, along with Otto Hightower, strongly resist Daemon’s succession to the throne as King Viserys’ heir.
With Daemon lending an ear to the Council’s discussion without its knowledge, the Council suggests that the King could name a successor as well. Hightower suggests Rhaenyra’s name to prevent a brute like Daemon from taking control of the Iron Throne.
Although King Viserys refuses to choose between his daughter and brother, being blinded by his love for the two, he underestimates the magnitude of Daemon’s ambitions.
Daemon, on the other hand, finds himself amidst a party thrown by himself at one of the pleasure houses where he toasts to the dead heir and calls him “the heir for a day”.
Credit to Hightower, the news of the celebration reaches King Viserys, who wastes no time in confronting his brother with a threatening tone.
Upon being questioned, Daemon admits to having said the words. As the King expresses displeasure at being betrayed by his own brother on the evening his family got destroyed, Daemon questions the king for not choosing his own brother as the King’s hand.
Sitting on the Iron Throne, King Viserys informs Daemon that he has chosen his heir and orders his brother to return to Runestone to his wife.
Talking to Princess Rahenyra for the first time since Queen Aemma’s passing, King Viserys tells Rhaenyra that to be a Targaryen King or Queen, it’s important to realize that the dragons were not a power to be trifled with, and the dragons are definitely not under their control as it’s presumed by the others.
He further passes on a secret that becomes the burden of every named heir of the Targaryen dynasty.
King Viserys tells Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen that Aegon Targaryen saw a dream in which the world of men ended through a terrible winder gusting from the North, and to protect the men, a Targaryen must remain on the Iron Throne.
With Rhaenyra becoming ready to plead allegiance from the lords of the realm, she becomes the successor to King Viserys. Meanwhile, Daemon departs on his dragon, Caraxes, with the intention to prepare to take back what he believes is rightfully his.
House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 1 Review
The premiere episode of House of the Dragon has quite the makings of its predecessor although it doesn’t reveal all its tricks at the beginning itself. The episode chooses to delve into the glory of its dragons and its castles, welcoming back the viewers to the land before returning to the obvious tricks in the book.
The episode sets the conflict for power perfectly as a disillusioned Rhaenyra becomes the heir while the power-hungry Daemon is made to fall back. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics between the two heirs unfold as the relationship between the two is shown to be quite cordial so far with a tinge of tension simmering on the surface.
While the first episode of the prequel series may not be as groundbreaking or surprising as the original one was to the untamed viewers back in 2011, the return to Westeros has definitely been a promising one.
Rating: 4/5
House of the Dragon is now streaming on HBO Max and Disney+ Hotstar.
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